Wednesday, July 3, 2024, 6:30 p.m.
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Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the third round of Wimbledon between ups and downs. He beat Aleksandar Vukic, a player overwhelmed by the situation, but he did so with a dose of suffering in a first set that could have gone either way and that could have complicated his presence in the tournament and his record on these courts: he is in the third round for the third year in a row and has won seven consecutive sets here. This year, he has not yet lost a single set.
And Vukic, a semi-finalist last week in Eastbourne and therefore adapted to this surface, was one serve away from taking the first set on Wednesday. Alcaraz, who had started like a shot and led the match 5-3, suffered a three-game break and allowed the Australian to go from being practically down a set to finding himself on serve to win it 5-7.
“It was difficult for me to close the set, so I knew it would be difficult for him too,” said the Murcian after the match, who held on to his head in bad moments. “I had to be there, hit returns and go for winners. In those moments you have to raise your level, be aggressive. That’s all I thought about and it helped me a lot.”
After not allowing Vukic to seal the set, the tie-break was not without problems, even though he was ahead 5-1. The wide advantage disintegrated in an instant and Vukic had the ball to make it 5-5. This time he trembled, allowing two set points to Alcaraz, who wasted the first with a terrible volley and did not give away the second.
The set in his pocket destabilized the Australian, who lost his way largely due to the improvement of Alcaraz, who made eight unforced errors in the first set and seven in the rest of the match. His tally of winners increased to 42 and he served eleven aces, including the last point of the match.
He also allowed himself a one-handed backhand to get the first break of the second set and several backspin drop shots that raised the ovation on Court 1, where Alcaraz already suffered last year against Jeremy Chardy. Since that match, the Spaniard, then number one, has only been scheduled to play matches on Centre Court.
Tiafoe, next challenge
And everything points to the same pattern being repeated this year, because the third-round match against Frances Tiafoe is one of the most appetizing in the draw. The American beat Borna Coric in three sets and seems to have recovered from the knee injury he suffered two weeks ago when he fell at Queen’s. Tiafoe, despite wearing arm and knee protection, has been able to win two matches and will now face the Spaniard for the third time, after beating him at the Conde de Godó in 2021 and losing to him in the US Open semi-finals in 2022. The match will be played on Friday.
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2024-07-03 16:30:11
#Alcaraz #lights #shadows
